fredag 13 mars 2015

JOHN LENNON/ROCK'N'ROLL PCS 7169 (-75) UK

His last original album before the 1980 "Double Fantasy". Considering background and circumstances for the making - like binge drinking, shooting incidents, law suites, escaped master tapes and intended producer Phil Spector in coma after a car accident - it turned out surprisingy well. First sessions made October 1974 and as the story goes - when rumour got out Lennon was recording a new album there were so many musicians for hire lining up to participate it was hard getting in to the studio (apparently some of the cuts have as many as thirty accompanists involved). It was set for disaster, but exactly a year later, in connection to the "Walls And Bridges" recordings, Lennon pulled himself together, sorted out the law suites and went back to studio with the WAB crew to finish it off. Released in the rock revival boom of the mid seventies it became success with the album reaching #6 in both US and UK. I didn't care much for revivals or the many fifties covers we were flooded with at the time. For me this was back to the Lennon I loved. Right on and confident with equal parts desperation and friskiness and even though he's bowing deeply to the old masters the vocals alone makes this a better choice than many of the originals - at least to me. Favorite cuts - "Bony Moronie", "You Can't Catch Me" and "Stand By Me". First "semi-legit" issue on Adam VII (A-8018) as "John Lennon Sings Great Rock'n'Roll Hits" used the unfinished tapes as a fifteen track, also with "Angel Baby" and "Be My Baby" but without "Send Me Some Loving". "Angel Baby" and a couple of other leftovers from the sessions later showed up on the posthumous "Menlove Ave" album. Premiere US on Apple (SK-3419). First UK had label as shown here with both US (etched) and UK (stamped) matrix numbers in a thin matt cover. (BÄ*)(JYZÖ*) (ÄPLÄ*)

ME & ABOUT

This blog is for musiclovers and people who fancy odd and rare analog mixes, pressings and issues. I will post items from my own collection, together with details from original covers, and comments with facts and/or personal reflections. Most of the issues are UK, but also ones from other parts of the world I find interesting. I embrace all contributions like facts, veiwpoints and discussions - all to enhance the knowledge and awareness for this part of music history. For some it may also be important to know if the rare record You're bidding on or dreaming of having is a different mix or not, or if it sounds good or bad, before You decide to pay a lot for it. Getting some of those rare issues today
can cost a fortune, but there are cheaper ways to get the real thing. Through this blog I will continue to post different kinds of compilations that carry true original mixes with nice audio, but also warn for a few. I'm not English, but try hard to present this in a language most can understand. I apologize in advance for lingual errors that may show up.